


It’s darker at night (but you’re by my side)

by Rosetylars



Category: Cricket RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Steve can never sleep before a match but this time it’s worse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21512131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosetylars/pseuds/Rosetylars
Summary: Steve can rarely sleep before matches, but this time it’s the night before his first Test on Australian soil since his ban. Luckily, Tim knows how to help him.
Relationships: Tim Paine/Steve Smith
Comments: 9
Kudos: 15





	It’s darker at night (but you’re by my side)

**Author's Note:**

> The people are real, the story is not!

Steve didn’t sleep well at the best of times. However, on the night before the Gabba Test - his first Test match on Australian soil in over a year - sleep seemed like a totally lost cause. 

Tim knew they were in for a rough night at around 8pm. 

Earlier, they had a lovely dinner with the team in the heart of Brisbane. The whole team was excited to get the first Test of the summer underway, and there was a pleasant buzz around the group. Brisbane had been a happy hunting ground for the Aussie team for thirty years, and they wanted to keep things that way. 

But once they arrived back at the hotel, and Tim and Steve were alone in their room, the nervous energy that Steve was always full of came out in full force. 

It began with Steve meticulously tidying all of their possessions in the room. He started refolding all their casual clothes where they sat in their suitcases, open against the wall. 

“Thanks, that mildly crumpled t-shirt was really bothering me,” Tim joked, coming up behind Steve and rubbing his shoulders. 

“Don’t laugh at me,” Steve frowned, and stuck out his bottom lip like a child. 

Tim pecked his boyfriend on the cheek. “I’m not, I’m appreciating you,” he placated. 

Steve went back to his organising, turning his attention to Tim’s bedside table. There was a glass of water left there from the morning, so Steve picked it up and walked over to empty it into the small sink of the kitchenette, turning it upside down to dry. 

“Do you want to do something?” Tim asked, sitting on the bed, watching Steve with interest. 

Steve turned to face him, a quizzical look on his face. “What kind of something?” 

“Not that kind of something,” Tim rolled his eyes with a grin. “A game or something. I brought all our mini board games.”

“I saw them in your suitcase when I was tidying,” Steve admitted sheepishly. “Battleship?” 

Tim stood up from the bed and walked to get the game out of his case. “How did I know you’d choose battleship,” he pondered to himself. 

They set the miniature game up on the bed and played a few rounds. Steve always won - he knew Tim’s tactics down to a fine art, and always found his ships easily. 

“So unfair,” Tim groaned after his fourth consecutive loss. 

Steve ran his hand through Tim’s hair. “Sore loser,” he joked. 

Tim poked his tongue out, and Steve poked it with his finger. 

Tim rolled his eyes. “Come on, it’s bedtime, mister.”

Steve sighed and packed up their game, carefully putting it back in its box with all the pieces stowed away safely inside. He checked the clock - 10:40pm. 

Tim expected the complaint before it came. 

“But I’m not tired,” Steve insisted. 

“I know you’re not, darling,” Tim said gently, “but you’ve got to at least sit in the bed before you can say you can’t sleep.” 

Steve sighed again. 

They both changed into pyjamas and brushed their teeth without drama. They finally settled into bed and Tim turned the lights off. He could feel Steve fidgeting beside him, so he turned and placed a kiss on Steve’s neck. 

Steve turned his head and they shared a deeper kiss. After a few moments, Steve pulled away. Tim shadowed his movement, trying to recapture Steve’s lips, but it was a lost cause. 

“I think I need to go for a walk,” Steve announced suddenly, beginning to sit up in bed. 

Tim reached out and held onto his arm. “Steve, it’s eleven o’clock, you’re not walking anywhere,” he said gently. “Just lay down with me.”

Steve perched on the side of the bed, elbows on his thighs, hands holding up his head. From Tim’s perspective, Steve looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

Tim reached over and gently rubbed Steve’s back. “This is more than your normal pre-match nerves,” Tim noted, “what’s on your mind, Steve?”

Steve shook his head. “I can’t relax. It’s worse than normal.”

Tim gave him silence to allow him to continue. 

After a few moments, Steve laid back down next to Tim. “It’s my first Test on home soil since... everything happened,” he said quietly. 

Tim wanted to slap himself. In amongst all the criticism and backlash he’d faced from the media recently over his captaincy, he hadn’t paused to realise that Steve hadn’t played a Test in Australia in over a year. 

“Of course,” Tim realised. He put an arm around Steve and gently coaxed him to rest his head on Tim’s chest. Once Steve was settled there, Tim put a comforting arm around Steve’s side, holding him close. 

“People still call me a cheat,” Steve said, barely above a whisper. “They write awful things, call me a coward, a fraud-“

Tim cut him off with a gentle hush. “Do you believe them?” 

“Perception is truth, isn’t it?” Steve asked wryly. 

Tim frowned, but Steve couldn’t see it in the dark.

“Not when it’s the opinions of strangers who don’t know you,” Tim responded.

“If they knew me, would they think differently?” Steve mumbled.

“Well, I know that you go out and give a hundred and fifty percent for your country every time you step on the field. I know you would give an arm and a leg just to see your mates succeed. I know you feel every dismissal long after matches, even if you’ve made centuries. I know you care more about our game than anyone in the world,” Tim explained. “That doesn’t sound like a cheat or a coward to me. That sounds like a fucking hero, Steve.”

Steve didn’t respond for a moment, so Tim opened his eyes and looked down at the man resting his head on his chest. Tim saw a tear fall from Steve’s eye, and felt it soak into his own t-shirt. 

“Baby,” Tim whispered, stroking Steve’s side gently. 

“Sorry,” Steve mumbled into Tim’s top. “You always know what to say.”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean,” Tim replied. “You are the strongest, most incredible man I know. I don’t know anyone else who could face as much controversy as you and then come back and perform so well afterwards.”

“But it’s different at home. I let everyone down. People hate me,” Steve said, and Tim could hear the shake in his voice. 

Tim ran his fingers through Steve’s hair. Tried to soothe him. “Kids come to matches to watch you, Steve,” Tim said, dropping a kiss into Steve’s hair. “They certainly don’t come to see my wicketkeeping,” he added with a laugh. 

Steve huffed a laugh at that. 

“Will you please try and close your eyes, for me? You don’t have to sleep, just rest,” Tim suggested. 

“I can’t stop thinking,” Steve admitted quietly, mostly to himself. He dug the heel of his palms into his eyes. 

“Then just listen to my heartbeat,” Tim offered. “Our alarm is set for 6, maybe you can get a bit of rest before then.” 

Steve tilted his head up for one last kiss before Tim fell asleep. 

He prepared himself for yet another restless night - he had a lot of mental tricks he’d tried over the years to try and get to sleep. Tonight, he decided to try to think of cricket players whose names started with each letter of the alphabet. But as he was considering E - for Edwards, both Mickey and Jack, his NSW teammates - he managed to drift off to sleep. 

***  
When their alarm went off, Tim half expected Steve to already be showered and dressed, eager to get to the ground, because he was normally awake for most of the night anyway. 

However, he was pleasantly surprised to feel Steve’s warm weight still draped over his chest. And - asleep?!

“Morning, sunshine,” Tim said, carefully shaking his boyfriend awake. 

Steve yawned and began to stretch out, rolling off Tim’s chest. “Jesus, I actually slept the whole night?”

“Guess you did,” Tim grinned. 

“Might have to sleep in your arms every night, then,” Steve grinned, and gave Tim a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Any comments or kudos are greatly welcome, they make my day!


End file.
